Satan comes from Old English Satan, via Late Latin and Greek Satanas, from Hebrew śāṭān ('adversary, accuser'), from the verb śāṭan ('to oppose, accuse'). The historical chain includes Late Latin Satanas and Ancient Greek Satanâs. The quoted older senses, "adversary, accuser" and "to oppose, accuse", supply the semantic anchors for satan. The formation is best read as borrowed: the word satan carries its older form-history into a compact English lexical shape. In present English it is used as a noun, "the devil; the chief embodiment of evil in several religions". English derivatives include satanic and satanism; related English forms include satanic and satanism. The result is a noun whose etymology preserves both the older form and the later English specialization.